Plain Old Telephone Systems (POTS) represent the traditional type of analog phone service. A variety of digital telephony services have been developed since POTS. One such service is Voice over Internet (VoIP) that transmits voice communications at least partially over the Internet. VoIP has considerable advantages over POTS systems, largely due to the digital nature of the signal processing and the reduced expense associated with Internet compared to phone usage. These advantages include reduced operating cost and increased signal processing capability such as is beneficial for call set up, call maintenance, signal encryption, and operating functionality, and enhanced signal encryption and signal processing techniques that result from the digital nature of the VoIP communications.
VoIP systems provide communications between a plurality of communications gateways (CG). Call agents are resident on the Internet and are assigned the complex task of controlling VoIP call set up, call maintenance, and call tear down. Call agents manage the calls and provide billing and other such tasks associated with the call. Setting up, maintaining, and breaking down VoIP systems require considerable call agent involvement. For example, a full-time computer professional may be required to operate and manage the call agent.
Extending the functionality of CGs to provide extended service to existing customers, or providing new services to new customers, typically requires that the call agent be compiled, linked, and loaded, which requires considerable call agent processing time. Additionally, testing the operation and components (such as CG) within the networks requires highly specialized equipment.
Call agent simulators can be used to test network operation or components. Present call agent simulators are designed with similar computer languages to perform similar operations and/or routines as do call agents. For example, to verify or test the operation of a network or network component, certain complex call agent simulators have to perform similar compiling and linking the call agent itself. These compiling and linking operations require considerable processing time.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a call agent simulator that could validate or test the telephone network, network components, or call agent but yet require only simplified computer programming techniques that do not require compiling or linking. It would also be desirable to reduce the time to accurately validate or test call agent, network or network component using a call agent simulator.